Dentists, clinics, and other dental-related facilities often ship dental impressions of patients to a laboratory, where the impressions are used in subsequent fabrication/laboratory procedures. In many cases, the dental impressions consist of materials such as polyvinylsiloxane (PVS) or alginate, with such materials being supported in a container (such as an impression tray). Such laboratories use the impressions to produce and provide dentists with certain restorations (e.g., crowns and bridges), guides for surgery, splints, dentures, bleaching trays, orthodontic appliances, and other products for the corresponding patients.
The impressions are frequently transferred to such laboratories by first wrapping the impressions with bubble wrap, paper towels, foam, Styrofoam sheets, or small plastic bags, which are then placed into a shipping container. The shipping container is typically comprised of paper, cardboard or plastic. The shipping container is often shipped alone, or may be packaged together with other items, for transit by courier, delivery services, expedited shipping companies, or the postal service.
Once the shipping container is received at the dental laboratory, the impression contained therein undergoes several processing steps. First, the shipping container is opened and the impression is visually inspected. Next, the impression is disinfected with bactericidal, antiviral, and antifungal agents, which reduce or eliminate certain biohazards that may exist on the surface of the impression. The impression is also labelled for tracking purposes and finally poured up in stone/gypsum (or imaged using a laser or x-ray system) to produce a physical or digital model of the impression.
There are many problems with the current process outlined above. The impression is often distorted and damaged during the packaging and shipping step, with the choice of wrapping material to cushion the impression providing various degrees of protection. In addition, the shipping container is often too small, which leads to compression of the impression and resultant distortion. In addition, insufficient amounts of protective packaging material often lead to excess space around the impression and damage during shipping. The position of the impression inside the container may also influence the quality of the impression once it is received by the laboratory. For example, if the impression of a patient's lower jaw is inverted and allowed to rest on its heels (the posterior extension of the impression material), the area can be easily distorted and damaged.
Still further, once the shipping container arrives at the laboratory, the impression must be treated as a biohazard. This requires that the laboratory technicians be trained to handle such biohazards (and the receiving area within the laboratory must include a quarantined area where various precautions are exercised, such as the use of protective gloves, eyewear, and gowns). In addition, as mentioned above, the impression itself must be disinfected and decontaminated using harsh chemicals to reduce and eliminate bacteria, viruses, and fungi (and such chemicals have been found to cause minor amounts of distortion of the impression as well). These processes and precautions require substantial technician labor—and expose technicians to certain risks associated with using harsh disinfecting chemicals.
As the following will demonstrate, the device and methods of the present invention address many of these problems with the current processes (and shipping containers) described above.